<p>Very interested in attending Brown and from what I’ve seen I guess you can’t get minors but can double major? How easy is that do to at brown? I want to get a minor in art and seeing as that isn’t offered at Brown would it be possible to get my major in art as well as a second major? I was thinking of going into the sciences or education perhaps so if anyone can help me out that would really be great!</p>
<p>If you can fit the courses in your schedule you can double.</p>
<p>Minors are almost always pedagogically unsound and pointless, IMO. If you want to take enough courses to get the art concentration, go for it, if not, you’re losing nothing by taking 4-5 courses in art just because you want to-- that’s very much in the spirit of the Brown Curriculum.</p>
<p>^minors are pointless at brown specifically cuz of how the curriculum is structured or minors are pointless in general cuz you don’t get an actual degree in the subject?</p>
<p>It’s hard for me to say if they are pointless everywhere, but in the context of how Brown concentrations are designed and defined and the way course selection and access works at Brown, there is no reason, pedagogically or practically (from a systems/access standpoint) to have minors at Brown.</p>
<p>I have some doubts as to whether they are pedagogically meaningful in a wider, more universal context but I haven’t explored that to see if the way we would think about a minor at Brown works like minors do elsewhere.</p>
<p>I can tell you that from a graduate school/job perspective, minors give you no advantage, something most undergrads have a hard time fathoming.</p>
<p>thank you everyone for your help. I do want to keep art somehow so if I am accepted I’ll decide there whether I’ll keep it as an elective or if I do it as a concentration</p>
<p>Have you thought about trying for the Brown-RISD Dual Degree program?</p>
<p>In my opinion, all minors outside of languages, at any university, are pointless.</p>
<p>Nearly all double majors are pointless as well. Some exceptions can be made if you want to go into business, perhaps. Otherwise, what you major in isn’t going to matter for law school, what you major in isn’t going to matter for medical school, and you’re not going to get a PhD in anything you didn’t major in.</p>
<p>Just take the courses you like. Chances are, by not doubling, you’re going to end up with more of the particular classes you’ll like because you’ll skip over boring introductory classes.</p>
<p>I would have to agree with languages-- Brown should institute some internal certificating process which essentially says you’ve obtained what we consider to be fluency/literacy in a language other than English.</p>
<p>I also agree with your statements about doubling, another thing which does not help you at all for graduate school or the workplace despite what anyone will tell you, but that discussion is a long one and one where I think there are merits to other positions.</p>
<p>Has it ever occurred to anyone that some people minor in certain subjects not because they think there is a “point” to it as far as grad school/occupation, but because they are actually interested in learning, which is kind of the point of college? I don’t know whether or not you can minor at Brown (trying to find that out myself is what brought me to this thread) but I imagine that you can take classes in art even if you don’t major in it. You can double major, but what I’ve heard about double majors (not necessarily at Brown, but in general) is that there is a lot of work involved and people fail classes that they really shouldn’t be failing because of the amount of work. A lot of people pull it off, though.</p>
<p>To clear things up: Brown does not offer minors. </p>
<p>keylime667: People get a major because they are required to, and in many cases the major is important. What other posters are explaining is that you take classes because you are interested in learning, while you get a minor for the title. If you really are taking a class for the sake of learning, you shouldn’t be worried about getting some extra (meaningless) title bestowed upon you.</p>
<p>^And if you’re going to complete the classes required for a major, you might as well get recognition for it. But Brown’s deans explicitly say you shouldn’t take even 1 extra class for the sake of getting a double or a triple major.</p>
<p>For example, I desire to reach a solid level of proficiency in my fields, so I have taken courses that aren’t overly interesting to me because I want this proficiency. Not because the title is important.</p>
<p>With that said, the title isn’t entirely meaningless. Some companies expect certain degrees (formally, companies like Microsoft want an Sc.B. in Computer Science for some of their positions), and so in that case, the title does have some meaning.</p>
<p>keylime667-- if you want to learn the material, take the courses. I mentioned that minors are not pedagogically sound because in most fields they do not actually provide the concrete set of common knowledge that someone who is well-versed in the field must know. In most cases at Brown, the A.B. represents the minimum, not the ideal, set of knowledge and experiences required to become a disciplinarian.</p>
<p>The purpose of a concentration structure is NOT the specific expertise obtained, but rather an articulated expectation that all students will explore at least one area in substantial enough depth that they could be considered acculturated in that academic discipline. If the purpose of a concentration was simply to learn “a lot” or “enough” about a subject, Brown would have eliminated concentrations either in 1969 with the New Curriculum or in 2009 with the Task Force on Undergraduate Education (I served on the concentration subcommittee of this group).</p>